1 . It shouldn’t come as news to anyone that the planet is moving quickly towards a climate emergency. And fast fashion certainly plays its part in this.
Fast fashion brands, which release hundreds of new styles every week, have caused trends cycles to speed up rapidly, leading to overproduction and overconsumption. British shoppers are buying twice as much as we did a decade ago and both brands and consumers are throwing away “unfashionable” clothing more often—over £300,000 of it ends up in landfill every year. How do we solve this issue?
One answer lies in the new generation of made-to-order brands making their way into the mainstream. These brands make clothes only as and when they’re ordered, and because there’s no overproduction, less unwanted stock ends up in landfills. They also promote a slower fashion model, with pieces taking between three weeks and three months to arrive once purchased. The focus is on creating special, well-made pieces for consumers to treasure for years to come.
Made-to-order fashion is nothing new. Until the mid-20th century, it was the norm. However, the 1960s brought about the dawn of fast fashion and a shift in our relationship with our clothes. The value once placed on craftsmanship and quality was replaced by the desire for low cost and volume, resulting in cut-cost production and the attitude that clothing should be cheap and disposable.
Of course, made-to-order fashion has continued to exist alongside this, though research clearly shows that fast fashion prevails (盛行). Cue a made-to-order brand bringing bespoke (定制) back to the mainstream. Spanish brand Alas features a slow business model. It takes orders each week which are then handmade and delivered in about three weeks. It also revolves around an on-demand production process that rewards consumers for “pre-planned responsible shopping.” Every week, they launch a new drop, available to pre-order for a discounted rate for a limited time. From pre-order, Alas determines how popular each new item is and calculates how many units should be produced to fulfill both pre-orders and future full-price orders, therefore reducing the overproduction of stock.
With made-to-order brands growing in popularity, it begs the question—could this be the dawn of a new, environmentally responsible era? The answer is self-evident.
1. What do the first two paragraphs mainly show?| A．Our strong desire for fashion. |
| B．The fast development of fashion industry. |
| C．The urgent need for a different fashion model. |
| D．The advantages and disadvantages of fast fashion. |
| A．The shadow of fast fashion. |
| B．The value placed on quality. |
| C．The shift towards a green lifestyle. |
| D．The criticism for cheapness and quantity. |
| A．The reward mechanism is a must in slow fashion. |
| B．It takes patience and thought to buy made-to-order items. |
| C．The pre-order model reduces the cost of purchasing brands. |
| D．Consumers have a say about how their orders are produced. |
| A．anxious | B．confident |
| C．puzzled | D．curious |
2 . The Chinese fashion icon, qipao, was born a century ago in Shanghai. However, the dress made its way through history from the hands of old craftsmen and is deep-rooted in Chinese culture.
“Qipao used to be so popular,” Leung Long-kong, 89, a well-known qipao craftsman, says, adding that the dress was an everyday outfit among women, from the less well-off to women at the highest levels of society. “Now, nobody is wearing them except on grand and happy occasions.”
To carry on the tradition, fashion designer Mary Yu, 41, who has been attending classes teaching knot button-making techniques, is trying to renew the design of qipao by taking symbols from Chinese history and literature.
“I feel I should look into Chinese culture and learn more about the past. People should have an in-depth understanding of their culture in order to move on,” Yu says. “Fashion design requires a profound knowledge of one’s culture before visualizing it.”
“After a period of wearing foreign brands all the time, there will be a day when one looks back to traditional Chinese culture. It is about finding the stuff that exists in your genes and suits you best.”
Yu set up her own qipao brand in 2016. Most of the clothes were made by tailors based in Shenzhen and Hangzhou, for their lower cost and more traditional work.
In the constantly evolving fashion industry, qipao is catching up with the times. Zippers, digital print patterns and new materials such as lace and denim have been introduced to a new generation. More daring ideas like 3D printed qipao have also become a reality. Yu believed that with the help of these new technologies, qipao will find its way back to the daily life of Chinese people in the near future.
1. Which of the following best describes Mary Yu?| A．Conservative. | B．Creative. | C．Devoted. | D．Determined. |
| A．To introduce the development of qipao in China. |
| B．To call on Chinese women to wear qipao in everyday life. |
| C．To emphasize the importance of qipao in China nowadays. |
| D．To show that qipao is no longer as popular as it was. |
| A．She borrowed some symbolic designs from foreign brands. |
| B．She devoted herself to using new technologies to make qipao. |
| C．She added some elements from Chinese culture to the design. |
| D．She learned the tailor techniques in Shenzhen and Hangzhou. |
| A．Qipao enjoys a good reputation in the world. |
| B．Qipao is an iconic sign in the fashion industry. |
| C．Qipao is on its way back to the daily life of Chinese. |
| D．Qipao is seen as a symbol of wealth in modern China. |
